Viking's growth means more Hinos

Like many companies working within the event space, Viking Rentals was forced to change its operations through the pandemic in order to continue to grow its Australia-wide presence, with the company’s focus shifting to supporting the construction industry.

Carrying over 50 different product lines, Viking Rentals is one of Australia’s largest privately owned portable toilet hire companies.

Core to the brand’s offering is portable toilet and fence hire, with specialist items in different regions including temporary power poles, hydration stations and hand wash stations.

At the heart of the company’s competitive advantage is its high level of customer service, which extends to infield cleaning, servicing and pump outs, with the processes driven by state-of-the-art software and telematics.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Brisbane, the company services the country via 12 metro and regional locations.

At the start of March 2020, just as the events season was winding down, nationwide lockdowns saw Viking Rental’s normal busy yards fill up, with its fleet sitting idle.

However, with the construction industry swiftly kicking into overdrive, staff were promptly reinstated, as the company reinvented itself.

“Obviously the events division got a fairly hefty kick in the arse, but we basically relocated our event fleet into construction, and we charged on through the whole pandemic without losing anyone,” said Chris Holland, Viking Rentals National Operations Manager.

To accommodate demand, the business’s delivery fleet expanded, while supply shortages from hardware companies resulted in construction times ballooning, lengthening the duration of hires.

Meanwhile, the event side of the enterprise picked up momentum once more with the long-term establishment of vaccination and testing clinics, alongside warehouses looking to embrace social distancing through the use of temporary toilets.

With a fleet now topping 40 vehicles, the company has recently taken onboard a number of Hino products, including five 300 Series 921s and two 500 Series FC 1124, taking the total Hino count up to 18.

Additionally, the Viking Rentals fleet also features 300 Series 616s and other 500 Series vehicles.

Working closely with Nick O’Brien from Sci-Fleet Hino at Coopers Plains has been a highlight for Chris in ordering more of the Japanese-built trucks, with the high-quality interiors and fuel economy two of the keys to the purchasing decision.

“I did a fair bit of study across the competitors, Fuso, Isuzu and Hino, and one of the big things was the turnaround time from when I first enquired to getting a response, the inclusions by the salesman, and the warranty that was offered,” said Chris.

“It’s also nice to just call Nick directly… whenever I’ve had any questions about the new trucks, he has always been on the phone and the aftersales care is very impressive.”

The setup on the delivery trucks has been crafted over time to maximise space to accommodate various work requirements, drivers and local conditions, while the trucks focused on the events side of the business are equipped to tow large quantities of the temporary fencing.

“The 300 Series 921s are what we call the delivery truck. They have basically got six pallet spaces on them which hold six toilets, and then a small vacuum tank for delivering and filling up, and then sucking out toilets at the end of a hire,” said Chris.

During a normal week, the use of the trucks varies greatly depending on the depot, while 700km to 1000km would be typical, regional locations can cover much more ground than their city-based cousins, typically at highway speeds.

One important selling point of the Hino products is the standard suite of safety inclusions.

“Safety is big from our point of view as a company. We’ve got over 40 trucks in the fleet, so safety is imperative for us as a nationwide company, so certainly the features that are in the 921s ease some of the anxiety that comes with driver safety,” said Chris.

The Hino SmartSafe package is standard across the 300 and 500 Series Standard Cab model range and includes a comprehensive safety package with advanced driver-assist technologies.

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Hino SmartSafe features active and passive systems such as Pre-Collision System (PCS) with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Pedestrian Detection (PD), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), traction control, anti-lock brakes, reverse camera, Daytime Running Lamps (DRLs), dual SRS airbags and more.

The 921 model comes in with a GVM of 8500kg, with the powerplant’s 205hp/600Nm output transferred through a six-speed true automatic transmission.

With a view to the future, Viking Rentals plans to continue on its current expansion trajectory around the country.

“Growth is certainly still on the cards for us, we’re not seeing any fall in that, it’s just getting bigger and better,” said Chris.

“We’re currently pushing into Toowoomba, which will be the next truck on the road that’s currently getting built, we’re only spreading further and further afield.”